Finally Breathe
by ponyvomit.x
Summary: OneShot// Sasuke didn't mention that she was heading north. Serves her right for slapping an Uchiha. SasuSaku


**special thanks to my epic grandma for giving me the plot for this.**

**MY GRANDMA IS SO AWESOME. :'D**

**ALSO. OOC-Sasuke, OOC-Sakura. just sayin'. **

…

"Mom. Camping?"

"Yes, honey, why?"

"I actually hate you."

…

**(finally breathe)**

**(all that matters is that we're together)**

**(here. now.)**

…

Haruno Sakura was not happy.

It was August. _August_.

This was the only thought buzzing around her brain as she stepped into a mud puddle and thanked the lord she was wearing walking boots.

She slammed the back door of her parents' black Jeep and stomped across the campsite, the barely-green grass making her legs wet with early morning dew. She reached up and tugged her bubblegum hair out of its high, spiky ponytail and allowed it to fall free around her shoulders. Scratching the back of her head, Sakura reminded herself to never wear her hair in a ponytail on a two hour car journey.

Several feet behind her, Sakura's parents struggled to pitch the first of two tents. She sighed and rolled her eyes, turning back around to at least look like she was helping. Her mother smiled sheepishly as Sakura took control and started to feed the black poles through the blue, waterproof material. Within a matter of minutes, she'd pitched the tent, and still hadn't spoken. Her mother whispered to her father, concerned.

"Sakura, honey? Is something wrong?" she asked, intertwining her fingers behind her back. "You haven't spoken since we got to the end of our driveway."

Green met green, and Sakura finally spoke. "Yes, something's wrong."

"…are you going to tell us what it is?" Sakura's father questioned quietly, choosing his words carefully. His daughter was in reaching distance of a hammer, after all. The girl curled her hands into tight fists, spinning around to face her parents with a death glare.

"Yes. I will. I don't want to be here. I never wanted to be here," Sakura threw her hands up in the air. "I should be at the beach with Ino or pigging out on ice cream with Tenten or shopping with Karin or, dare I say it, helping Kiba find a girlfriend he would actually stay with for more than a week." Sakura's parents gulped. "If this camping trip is going to do _anything _to this family, it'll _ruin _the relationship between me and you two, not help it. Y-you know what? You can pitch your own tent. I'm taking this one. Good, and _day_."

Sakura pulled back the "door" of what used to be her parent's tent, stepped inside, and pulled on the zipper, concealing herself from the outside world. Sitting with her legs and arms crossed, Sakura sulked.

Reality hit home, and Sakura peeled back the door, a hard glare on her pretty pale face. "Can I have my bags, please?"

…

Sitting on a high bough of a tree was where Uchiha Sasuke belonged.

Jamming the white earbuds of his iPod headphones into his ears, he gazed down at the earth below him. Nothing interesting enough for Sasuke to really care about, just people pitching tents and laying picnic blankets. His parents, who, last time he'd seen them had also been pitching a tent, were nowhere to be seen.

"Tch, this is such a waste of my time," Sasuke murmured to himself, only just audible over the dull sound of a Mariana's Trench song ringing in his ears. "I'm Uchiha _freakin' _Sasuke. I don't go _camping_. And why my parents thought we should is beyond me…why couldn't we spend a week in Itachi's summer villa? He wouldn't mind…speaking of him, why the hell am Ithe only one who's been bought along for this damned camping trip?" he should his shaggy black bangs from his eyes, and made a silent oath to never speak aloud to himself again. "Ugh. Whatever."

Sasuke's dark stare dragged itself from the center of the site to the far edge, where a gravel road separated happy families from a small, and probably shallow, river. Stood not ten feet from the road was a family of three, a mom, dad, and a teenage girl about Sasuke's age; give or take six months. She had her mother's rose pink hair and deathly pale skin, her father's green eyes and…wide forehead? Sasuke smirked.

Even from the great height he was at, the Uchiha could still hear the girl ranting, and watched in amusement as she began to flail her arms in wide circles.

"Mom, please let me go home! I'll take the car, I'll be _really _careful. I'll pick you up next year and –" her mother cocked a hip to the right. "Alright, alright, three weeks time. I won't trash the house, I won't do _anything _I wouldn't do when you're at home."

"Oh, alright, honey, of course you can!" her mother cooed, grinning all over the face identical to her daughters.

"Really?"

"No!"

The girl scowled and stomped away from her parents – and towards the tree in which Sasuke was sat. He cussed under his breath and prayed to god – Buddha – whoever would listen, that he wouldn't be seen. The last thing he wanted was to have to be spoken to by a silly teenage –

"Hello? Um, hi. What are you doing in that tree?"

_Religion? Bee. Ess, _Sasuke thought.

"Guh, I, uh, was just…I'm, um, hanging and – _what are you doing on the ground_?" the skinny-jeans-clad boy mentally punched himself in the nuts. He hated stammering. It proved inferiority, and it proved him to be wrong. Slowly, carefully, he climbed down from the branch and leant against the tree trunk, hands in the pouch of his hoody. To be polite, he removed his earbuds and shoved them deep into his back pocket, banished along with the actual iPod. In front of him, one eyebrow raised at his expressionless face, the girl pouted softly.

"What am I doing on the ground? Uh, standing? Like a regular person does?" she added for effect, "Monkey boy."

"I'm not a monkey."

"And my Aunt Rima is a supermodel."

Sasuke glared. Sarcasm was _his _thing and no-one else's. "So what's your story? I heard you yelling at your parents."

"Oh, yeah, that…let's just say I would rather throw myself off of Tokyo Tower wearing neon green and pink tie-dye pants - "

"Which would match your hair and eyes."

" – I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that…" the girl took a breath. "Than be here. Camping with my parents. Talking to you."

"Ah. Same." Sasuke bobbed his head in agreement. He stuck out an awkward hand. "I'm Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. And you are..?"

"Haruno Sakura." 'Sakura' tilted her head and looked at Sasuke's outstretched hand with a crinkled nose. "I don't do formalities."

She stepped over a log that sat dormant beside Sasuke's feet, a small twig snapping beneath her walking boots. "Let's go for a walk, Sasuke Uchiha Sasuke."

"A walk – why? Where?"

"It's me on a walk, or…" Sakura turned and pointed to the camping site. "Your parents sat 'round the campfire singing Elvis songs."

Sasuke looked on in horror as his parents – he _knew _they were his parents, there was no denying it – lit up the fire and began to sing _Jailhouse Rock_ horribly off-key. "They – they're not…"

"_The truth_."

"…alright, let's go."

The rosette gave a small squeal and skipped forward, grabbing her new acquaintances wrist and dragging him with her.

He groaned.

_Eff. Em. El. _

…

"Any idea where we are?"

"…yeah, of course, silly!"

"Where's the campsite?"

"In a general…that way direction?" Sakura flailed an arm, inwardly cringing. She let the arm fall to her side and she exhaled in an embarrassed sigh. "Okay, okay, I have _no _idea where we are."

"Ah, great. I'm stuck in the forest with an idiot." Sasuke murmured under his breath. Sakura lifted her eyebrows, her mouth forming a perfect _o _shape.

"Hey, I'll have you know I have an IQ of 127, I'll be studying at Hokkaido med school when I graduate nineteen months from now, and there is a future valedictorian inside me, screaming to get out." Sakura tossed her hair and nodded. Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah, it's screaming, _help! I'm trapped inside a dimwit!_"

She slapped him on the arm.

"I'm sorry, was that meant to hurt?" he asked sarcastically. The rosette pouted and folded her slender arms across her flat chest.

"N-no." When her back was turned, Sasuke rubbed the spot that she'd hit. "So anyway, we should probably make our way back to camp and…Uchiha Sasuke, is that a _cell phone_?"

Sasuke frowned, his peppermint gum pressed against the roof of his mouth. "Uh. Yeah. They're…pretty common these days, Sakura. It _is_ the twenty-first century, you know."

"No, no, I didn't mean that." the considerably shorter of the pair flailed her arms again. "Y-you made a huge fuss about me getting us lost and – "

"We're not lost." Sasuke said calmly as he scrolled through his Facebook news feed. "What did you say your surname was? Oh, Haruno, yeah. Check your Facebook when you get the chance, I added you – "

"What do you _mean _we're not lost?"

"I know exactly where we are. Keep going south and you'll find the campsite." Sakura hit him again, and the victim of her anger forgot to act cool. "Oh – ow! What was that for?"

"Just tell me why you scared me like that?"

"…because girls like you are cute when you're scared."

Another slap reddened his cheek. Sakura stomped away, murmuring his name, followed by an array of colorful words. She rolled up her sleeve and slapped away a bug.

Sasuke didn't mention that she was heading north.

Serves her right for slapping an Uchiha.

…

Sakura was scared.

Not just scared, as in, heart beating a little faster, hands shaking.

Her heart was about ready to squeeze itself through her ribs, she was having a mini spasm in her fingers, and her neck was glued to her pillow with sweat.

Sakura was _terrified_.

"It's okay, it's okay," she breathed to herself, almost in hysterics. "It's just a little rain…" lightning clapped outside her tent, and she squealed. "And lightning! Omigod, omigod, omigod, omigod, I'M GONNA FREAKIN' DIE."

Calming herself down, she realized one vital piece of information.

"Oh, no way. I'm not going out there. I'd rather pee in this sleeping bag than go over to the portapotty." she took a breath. "Ehe…on second thoughts…"

She swiftly rummaged for her bath robe, pulled it out of her bag and wrapped it around her quivering body. Quiet as a mouse, Sakura let herself out of the tent she shared with no-one, and started to creep across the campsite to the tall, blue "closets".

…

_Hmm…Haruno Sakura? I suppose she _was _smart enough to figure out she was going north. Guess that means I didn't get _enough _revenge_.

Silently, silently, the dark figure crept closer to the girl, screaming quietly at every golden flash of lightning.

…

He clapped a hand around her shoulder. "Boo."

Sakura shrieked, whirled around and slapped her _attacker_ across the face. "GET AWAY FROM – Sasuke? _The hell_?"

"You sure like physically abusing me, don't you?" Sasuke muttered, poking at the handprint on his cheek. "But I suppose you were too busy, I don't know, planning on how to blow up the world to hear me come up behind you."

"No, I need the bathroom!" she retorted sharply, still hyperventilating. "What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Huh. Who could with this damn lightning?" Another clap sent her into a fit of terrified sobs, and Sasuke could do nothing but stare in shock.

"You're…scared of lightning?" he questioned her quietly, softly, using the kindest tone he could conjure up. She nodded with a shy whimper. "Nngh…here."

He handed her a tissue and cringed from under his bangs. Sakura took the tissue, blew her nose, and slipped it into her pocket. "S-sorry. I've been…scared…since I was a little…g-girl."

"Any reason why?" Sakura shook her head. "Oh."

Noticing that she was genuinely distressed, he placed his hands on her back and pulled her into an awkward hug. Sakura twisted her fingers into his pajama shirt and inhaled. "Two things,"

"What?"

"One. I got tears on your shirt." Sasuke rolled his eyes in a sort-of, _should I care?_ manner. "Two. You smell really good."

"Th-thank…you?" Sasuke gave a half-smile. "I actually use this cologne called – "

His statement was cut off by her mouth colliding with his. And what else could he do but kiss her back? When the kiss broke, his breath was taken away, and his cheeks were tinted red. Sakura laughed childishly.

"Are you…um," Sasuke cleared his throat. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Very." Sakura grinned up at him, turned, and headed for the portapotty. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

During her short absence, Sasuke waited.

As she stepped out of the closet-like space, he caught her hand and started to drag her towards the forest. "Come on. Lets go for a walk."

"What? But Sasuke, I'm not wearing shoes – " she shrieked as he picked her up bridal-style. "Put me down!"

"Nah." he winked. "You're cute when you're flustered."

"Stop saying I'm cute!"

"Nah."

…

"And that? There? That's – "

"OH MY GOSH A FLYING SAUCER."

"No, Sakura, that's called an airplane." Sasuke smirked out of the corner of his mouth. "That's Orion's Belt. See it?"

"Mm…kind of." an idea flew into Sakura's mind. "Can you…guide my fingers to it?"

Sasuke grinned, he knew her game, but proceeded to take her hand in his, pointer finger extended. He dragged her hand gently, as if it would break, in the shape of Orion's Belt, and whispered a gentle, "See?"

"Oh, yeah, I see it!" Sakura giggled. "Duh, how could I _not_?"

"Because you're an idiot? Please don't slap me."

"I won't, don't worry." Sakura leaned in until her lips were inches from his. "I'd rather do this."

She closed the space between them.

_Her lips taste like peppermint_, Sasuke acknowledged.

…

"Is it me or does Sakura look…really happy?" Mrs. Haruno whispered to her husband over the campfire. Her husband looked over at their daughter, who was several feet away, crouched on the grass in front of a washing up bowl and was scrubbing at a dirty plate. And _humming_.

"She is definitely happy. Probably all goo-goo over that boy she was talking to yesterday." he chuckled into the fire. "So many mood swings, so little time. Just like her mother."

Glare.

"Her, her, her beautiful, smart, _wonderful_ mother who's a great chef and would you like a foot massage?"

…

Day faded into night.

Sakura crawled army-style out of her tent, donning trackpants, a tee-shirt with a panda on it and a pretty pink cardigan that she hadn't worn since Christmas. She cringed as her nose collided with a pair of feet, clad in only a pair of navy bed socks.

"Sakura. The _fuck_." the aforementioned camper looked up with a sheepish smile and a blush staining her cheeks.

"Just…you know, keeping low. Didn't…Juliet crawl like an army guy to see Romeo?"

"In trackpants and a panda shirt? _Sure, _sure."

He lifted his arm. She took his hand. She claimed his heart with a single smile.

"Tell me," Sasuke said quietly. "Do you chew a lot of gum?"

"What?"

"Your lips always taste like peppermint. Why is that? I mean, you have pink hair…" he rolled a few strands of her "bed hair" between his index finger and thumb. "So really, one would think they'd taste like strawberries or…candy."

"Well I – yeah, I suppose I chew a lot of gum." Sakura replied awkwardly and stifling a laugh. "Was that a compliment?"

"Not as such. More an observation." Sasuke paused in fear of being slapped for an umpteenth time. "But I like your hair."

The girl grinned and laced her fingers through his. "Come on. Let's go on a walk."

"Why?"

"Just because, okay?" Sakura cried giddily. She started to skip, dragging Sasuke along with her and nearly dislocating his arm. "Because what else can we do in this god forsaken campsite, huh?"

"True, true. Let's go." he pulled her gently to a slow walk at his side. "No skipping."

"Who are you, my mother?" Sakura let go of his hand and ran a few feet ahead of him, then broke into a childish skip. She spun around, a devious grin on her peppermint-tasting lips. Her green orbs flashed, and she started to run further into the wood. Sasuke growled. He didn't like being teased. He didn't want to play this game.

"Sakura, come back. Please?" he called into the dark.

"Nope!" her voice came echoing back. "This it what you get for calling me cute!"

Sasuke started to sprint. God knows what was out there, _who _was out there, and oh, if something happened to precious little cherry blossom, her father would put Sasuke's head on a stick. He followed the flash of pink, the sound of crackling leaves, the sound of a childish giggle, and didn't avert his eyes. As he came closer, Sasuke threw his arms around her waist protectively, picked the laughing figure up and spun her in the air, only to have her start laughing even more hysterically. Sakura wriggled out of his grasp and dropped, feet-first, to the floor.

"Heh, that was fun." she smiled, wiping water and sleep dust from the corners of her eyes. "Mm…tired now."

"Lie down."

"Glad…ly…" Sakura yawned and fell backwards onto the soft grass, her pretty pink hair spread out around her head like a rosy halo. Sasuke smirked at her sleeping form and sat down beside her.

He watched her sleep, held her hand, and then it was sunrise, and they ran.

Sakura dived into her tent, frantically trying to make her sleeping bag looked slept-in and her hair even messier. Moments after her return, Sakura's mother poked her head into the tent.

"Morning, honey. Did you sleep well?"

…

Three weeks passed. _Three weeks_.

In. Out. In. Out.

Up. Down. Up. Down.

"Sakura."

"Shh. Sleeping."

"At three in the afternoon?"

"Sleeping."

Sasuke raked his fingers through her bubblegum hair, looking up at the flashes of blue sky peeking through the tangled tree branches rather than the girl, not sleeping at all, with her head on his chest. He chewed on his lower lip.

"You know I'm leaving tomorrow." Sakura's eyes snapped open. He had her full attention. "Don't worry about it, Sakura. We can still see each other."

"Don't worry about it?" Sakura repeated in a whisper. Then again, in a louder tone. "Sasuke, I live in Konoha. That's like, 70 miles from Oto." her expression faded from anger into sad. "We'll see each other every six months."

"Don't." he murmured into her hair. Inhaling the scent of Sakura's chamomile shampoo, Sasuke gulped. "Don't say stuff like that. All that matters is that we're together. Here. Now."

Sakura nodded.

…

"Sakura, honey. Can I get you anything?"

"No."

"Anything at all?"

"…Sasuke."

The elder Haruno female sat beside her daughter on the couch, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Sakura, I know a broken heart isn't easy to deal with…and now we're back in Konoha, it's probably even worse and…oh, I'm not helping. Maybe I should…um…"

"No, mom, you don't understand." Sakura murmured. "It wasn't just a silly little crush."

"I never said it was, I was just…" Sakura's mother trailed off. Before she could continue, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!"

Sakura watched with a blank mask of a face as her mother opened the door, spoke quietly to whoever stood outside and turned her head to speak to her daughter. The grin pasted on her face couldn't be hidden. "Ah, Sakura, honey, you have a visitor."

The pinkette sighed dramatically and shuffled to the door, staring down at her feet. "Look, I don't want to buy any car insurance – "

Sakura looked up.

The figure in front of her held a bouquet of roses in one hand, and an important looking document in the other. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark clothes. Sakura held her breath.

"So, um, this is going to sound really corny." Sasuke cleared his throat. "These roses are for you. This paper, here, is the document stating I now own the house right across the street. And Haruno Sakura, if you don't mind my saying, I, Uchiha Sasuke, am in love with you."

Sakura stared at him with wide green eyes, slowly filling with tears. She took the bouquet and choked out a sob. "Y-you did…all this…for m-me?"

Sasuke nodded, a blush staining his cheeks a dainty shade of red. Sakura started full on crying, her fist to her mouth.

The bouquet of roses lay forgotten on the carpet.

…

**oh. em. eff. gee. **

**I write so much fluff, I even scare myself.**

**please review? **


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